Cyberpunk isn't really the game I thought it would be. But I'm thinking, so what? Is it fun? If it's not just move on. If it fails to live up to your expectations, or promises, or potential or hype, play something else. Come back later, get a refund, or put it on the shelf alongside all of other games you bought that you didn't like. I'm not speaking to anyone in particular, but to all the drama that has arisen from this release. Sucks that it didn't work out on consoles. That was bound to catch up at some point, wasn't it?

On PC it's OK. I've now dropped 50 hours in to the game and have at least dipped my toes in to just about everything Cyberpunk has to offer. I've had some bugs, but still nothing major. Things like getting stuck in scanner mode and can't get out until a reload. Graphics glitches like disappearing and appearing cars and NPCs. It's there if you look for it. Minor stuff. The worst I've seen so far was during a mission. I was tasked with watching a braindance during which you use edit mode to scan the scene for clues. Two of the three clues were easily done, but the third just wasn't there. Turns out it was an object on the floor, but it only appeared for about two seconds through the minutes-long scene. I only found it by going very slowly through fast forward and rewind, and then paused it when it popped to scan it. For all but two or three seconds it would be impossible to find when the object should be sitting undisturbed on the ground from start to finish. It would be very easy to miss and have progress halted in this case.

From my point of view, whatever bugs exist on PC are minor or I have yet to encounter them. There have already been several patches and hotfixes, the most recent being version 1.05 two days ago. More will follow and it will only get better.

I don't really know what to say about those who feel wronged with promised or announced features that aren't in the release. Yeah I get it, and I followed the development of Cyberpunk closely too. Some aspects are clearly not what I expected. Partly that due to my own imagination and wishes. Partly it's due to CDPR's marketing. But the bottom line for me is to judge it on what it is. Why drive yourself nuts lamenting what it's not? And then too, what will it become? I haven't seen anything about planned DLC or expansions, but maybe the right move is to come back after a spell and see what the game has become six months or a year down the line. I'm having a good time with it, despite the flaws.

A few thoughts on what I like about Cyberpunk and a few things I don't

The Good

-- Story and Side Jobs. The structured missions are my favorite part of the game. The characters, the situations, the action is all a lot of fun and very well done in my view. When a game like this is perhaps lacking in the sandbox elements, it's redeeming that the scripted stuff is so good.

-- Characters. The voice acting is uniformly top notch. The characters are convincing in ways other games are not. The facial expressions might be the best I've seen, the way they convey emotion, the realistic way they move and sit around, lean against something or sit back on a couch. Again, it's all very convincing and sets the tone. This sort of detail does not extend to the free-roam, where things are much more simple and less satisfying. But for the missions, where CDPR paid attention and fine tuned it, the results are excellent for me.

-- Combat. Having a good time with the gun play. Shootouts are fun, and I like fighting the battles with a mix of firearms and cyber attacks. It's sort of tedious right at the beginning of the game, as you have few abilities and weak weapons, and it's mainly a matter of shooting your target a lot of times until it dies the death of a thousand paper cuts. But as you develop your main, filling out perks and abilities it opens up and combat is more brutal and decisive. I'm specced in to a lot of trees, but primarily Assault, Crafting, Engineering and the stealth one that isn't Cold Blood. Using tech weapons which synergize with the build, and grenades. Using weapons that are supported by the perks you pick makes your power ramp up steeply.

-- Cover System. I'm specced into Assault, which gives a number of bonuses when firing from cover. And the cover system works beautifully. You can freely move into and out of it, never getting stuck in any way like others games nor needing to hit any key to enter. And the best part is that it's sort of dynamic. For example if you're behind a crate with your gun leveled your head an body are positioned at the right level. But if you want to aim lower, your body rises up in proportion, giving it a flexibility unlike many games where there's a lower limit and to look lower requires you to break cover and stand. When aiming down the sights and peeking around the corner, the character leans just right. It really does work great. I often ignore cover systems in games, just using objects as shields, but not entering the cover stance. In Cyberpunk though I look to get there, as it's smooth, natural and effective.

-- Night City. It's an impressive world they've built. It's big and diverse. It's no secret by now that how it is fleshed out is perhaps less than what was expected, but from a structural, aesthetic and design perspective it's impressive indeed.

The Bad

-- Vehicles. We all expected more I think. The unrealized customization features remove any real desire for me to spend much time with the vehicles. Instead of lording over a collection of cool cars and bikes, personalizing them and delighting in selecting the next one to drive, they are really nothing more than a tool to get from A to B. Add to this the terrible (in my opinion) handling physics and it all leaves me rather disappointed. I know there are better cars than I've tried, but a this point I have no real desire to find out, and haven't purchased a single vehicle. I have Vs starting car which I never drive, and two motorcycles which get used a lot to get around the map. The driving isn't fun and the sensation of speed is all wrong. The speedometer says I'm doing 130 MPH but it looks like 55. This is one area I'd like to see revisted, expanded and reworked.

-- Weapons customization and crafting. Again, I at least, expected more. It's all too simple, with few options and a small degree of difference between the ones there are. The loot system is reminiscent of Borderlands, with what you find varying in incremental amounts of damage. The game I was playing before Cyberpunk was BL 3 and early on I decided to ignore this loot system and focus on crafting/engineering so I can use a few core weapons throughout the run by keeping them upgraded and on-level. It works OK, by gathering crafting materials I can continually upgrade these guns, but the effects of this crafting and upgrades are minor and there's no real way to personalize it. I can't make it fire faster, or change the elemental type, increase mag size or lighten it. It's just a cycle of breakdown weapons for parts>spend parts on a one-point damage increase>breakdown more parts> another point of damage, ya know? It becomes exactly the same weapon, it just hits a little harder. It means I am not playing the game chasing the next weapon like in Borderlands, which is good. But it also fails to impart that sort of attachment to my weapons that a true customization layer would give me.

-- Clothing. Purely subjective, but at no point yet have I looked cool. For me, this is the best thing about Cyberpunk being a fist person game lol. I don't have to constantly be reminded how ridiculous I look. I'm not sharp with Cyberpunk lore, but the way the loot system and armor ratings work means in order to have a good rating, the outfits I piece together are garish at minimum. Too bad, because having a cool looking character is a big plus. Another player will love the choices so not saying this is bad per se, just for me. I'd much prefer a system where you choose whichever clothes you like, and protection comes though purchases or finds of modifications or skill tree upgrades. I want my V to be stylish, not look like a circus clown at his first paint ball match or something. You only ever see V in the inventory or mirrors anyway, but still.

I'm 50+ hours in, level 20, street cred 37. So far the experience has been quite smooth. The game is fun, especially when I focus on the crafted missions. Free-roam is fine, and is great for leveling up. But it's also sort of repetitive. Within hours of starting I had already moved on from what I thought or wanted Cyberpunk to be and just took it at face value. And from that viewpoint I think it's a good game.



No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!